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Director of Scorch, Emma Jordan talks about the rehearsal process, gender, Ireland and more

Edinburgh may be a not so distant memory but SCORCH by Primecut Productions at Paines Plough’s Roundabout took Summerhall by storm. Scorch had rave reviews from critics and audiences alike and it is due to head out on tour soon. I had a chat with the Director of the show, Emma Jordan about the rehearsal process, gender and Ireland.
Emma Jordan

Emma Jordan

Hello there, how was your Edinburgh Fringe experience this year? 
We had a super time at the Fringe – it’s the first time the company have presented work there and really it was worth waiting for. Summerhall is such a vibrant hub – a fantastic mixture of audience and artists in a relaxed atmosphere – not so hectic as some of the rest of the venues – and the entire programme of work presented there was interesting and inspiring. Our hosts Paines Plough made us so welcome and we really felt that we were part of a bigger picture, in terms of the roundabouts curated programme.

What is the most rewarding part of the process, of bringing a show that you’ve directed to Edinburgh? 
Our company Primecut mostly presents our work in Ireland, so for me it was really gratifying to present to such an eclectic audience. It’s always good to present work to new audiences, especially in Edinburgh where it’s truly international and mixed in terms of gender and age.

How would you describe the narrative of SCORCH in ten words? 
The story of a gender curious teenager and first love.

The response to SCORCH was quite good, wasn’t it? 
We had an amazing response with heaps of five and four star reviews and three awards ; a Best actor award for Amy McAllister – a fringe first – and the Holden street award. Happy days 🙂

Amy McAllister was extraordinary in the play. How would you describe the rehearsal process? 
The rehearsal process was very focused. The script leaves lots of open questions regarding presentation and we had to make a lot of decisions quickly. When you are integrating choreography and text it’s a fine balance – it was intense but also really enjoyable. Amy is a very talented actor and we worked with some great artists Ciaran Bagnal, our set and lighting designer, Carl Kennedy our sound designer and Nicola Curry our choreographer. I think we all understood that the play has important things to say regarding perception of issues around gender – we all had to learn fast and we had great support here in Belfast from Anchor and Buoys two transgender support organisations. They were hugely beneficial in helping us wrap our heads around the issues that Kes faces.

How many kilometers did you walk around the city? 
Who’s counting ? It’s a gorgeous city and the sight of the mountains made every day a pleasure.

Did you have any recommendations for other shows to see?
I really enjoyed Dublin Old School and Greater Belfast – two provocative shows very different in theme and presentation but both with really playing with language in an inventive way. I also loved Johnny and The Baptists Show in the Roundabout – very funny but with an honesty and integrity I applaud.

Cheers!

CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUT TICKETS TO WATCH SCORCH AT BELFAST INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL ON 21/22 OCTOBER 2016

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Seiriol Davies: “It was important to me that when it hit Edinburgh, it was totally bullet proof”, talking about How to Win Against History.

Few Edinburgh Fringe shows make the kind of impact that How to Win Against History has. Having received high praise from (basically everyone) Janet Ellis and Complicite, the show is surely destined for another life.
We meet at Assembly Hall, George Square for a pint and a chat about the show, rejection, working the Fringe and more.

How to Win Against History

How to Win Against History runs at Assembly George Square Theatre until 28th August. Click on the image to book your tickets now!

I start by asking him how the show came to be, a musical focussing on Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey who enjoys cross-dressing, he starts “The whole time we’ve made the show I was entirely convinced I was going to get pipped to the post by someone else, because it is – to me – such an obvious story. Henry was theatrical, what the French would call flamboyant, he spent all his family’s money putting on plays, with him in them and often dressed in lovely dresses made of diamonds. Upon his death his entire internal life had been deleted, so he’s the perfect kind of cypher character in a way.”

This is theatre at its most alive. We discuss the rave reviews, taking it in his stride. He appears genuinely humbled. “They are really lovely. They certainly impact the show in the way that they get people in. It will help us to tour it as well, which is my primary goal. I like reading reviews from audiences who get it on many levels and I like that the show has a broad appeal, it’s about using mainstream-ness to talk about what it means to be rejected by society.” He adds “To my knowledge, the worst review we’ve had said it would only appeal to a niche audience and that our Henry should have been more butch.”

I ask what the biggest challenges that he has faced with this piece were. “I was terrified going into the venue, because it’s so mini, but it’s been decked out beautifully. It’s actually eerily similar to the upstairs studio we first developed it in at Ovalhouse. Ovalhouse is an amazing engine for creating new work, and they’ve been instrumental in getting it off the ground. We’re really grateful to them and Pontio in Bangor, who are our Welsh partner, who made it possible for us to get to Edinburgh.”

One of the best things about Edinburgh Fringe is that it rewards risk-taking audiences, and everything is up for grabs. You hear people raving about it, and want to see it for yourself. How to Win Against History is doing very well here but I bet most of the audience never imagined they’d ever love a show dedicated to the lives and times of a cross dressing dancing Marquess, or would have booked to see it at their local theatre.

Davies is bringing a fresh approach, “I think it’s a shame when a musical is all like ‘scene scene plot talking talking scene SONG which-is-a-divergent-soliloquy-about-what-someone-is-feeling-inside then back to scene scene talking talking plot…’ I mean it can be that, sure, but you’ve got access to such an amazing breadth of ways of expressing stuff in musicals, and do so in ways that seem effortless to take in as an audience. So, you can move the story forward with a song, and at the same time subvert or mess with what the words are saying, using the music. There’s a song in the show about touring an increasingly difficult show, which moves the plot and characters forward a fair but, but also digs up all of our actorly bitterness towards critics, audiences, other actors and our own poncy ways and failures. But the song is a chirpy barbershop style, so it contrasts. I’m not sure that’s the best example of what I’m saying, but I’m tired and I’ve had a cider, so that’s my excuse.”

At this point, I pipe up that rejection is the greatest aphrodisiac. “I have not found this to be the case,” he says, smiling. “Except if you mean that people with low self esteem are easy to pull?” His humour is still intact.

Creatives at the festival pour their hearts and souls into shows to deliver the goods. How is he feeling right now, two thirds into the run? “I feel good. It feels really great to have momentum behind something like this when it has been so long in the making. It was important to me that when it hit Edinburgh, it was totally bullet proof.”

These origins make perfect sense. It has an unique energy behind it. The show’s incredible achievement is that it completely defies categorisation and that many, myself included, would probably never see outside a festival context.

His favourite musicals are a given, in terms of what you see of him, he is a very intelligent theatre creature. He says “Southpark the Musical, which is so unbelievably clever.” He smiles. “Oh God. Cabaret and Matilda!”

And there we have it.

How to Win Against History is at Edinburgh Fringe Festival until Aug 28.

CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR HOW TO WIN AGAINST HISTORY

Click here to read the review of How to Win Against History by Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph

 

 

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Mamoru Iriguchi ( 4D Cinema ) : ‘By having a screen around your face, you can make sure that everybody enjoys both the video and your face’

Mamoru Iriguchi

Mamoru Iriguchi

Mamoru Iriguchi is at Summerhall with 4D Cinema. I caught up with him and chatted about the challenges of being a performer at Edinburgh, technical difficulties and more.

Hi ya! Where are you and what are you doing currently?
In my flat (I live in Edinburgh) and drinking coffee. If this question is about my work, I am a theatre designer and performance maker.

How have audiences responded to 4D Cinema so far?
Very positively, I think.

In your show 4D Cinema – you sport a screen and a projector around your face – Where did the idea come from?
When you use video projection in your show, often the audience members only watch the projection and forget about your presence. By having a screen around your face, you can make sure that everybody enjoys both the video and your face.
4D Cinema is partly about the differences between live and filmed performances, so I wanted to place the two very closely.

What’s the hardest part about being a Fringe performer?
I think the hardest part would be sharing a bedroom with ten other performers. Luckily I am based in Edinburgh, so I do not have that. I wish I had more money to see more shows but this is probably a universal issue for everyone who works in art.

Do you read reviews of your work?
Yes, I cry with joy or despair while reading them.

How do you warm up physically, mentally and vocally for this show?
I cycle (uphill) to the venue everyday. I often take a cycle path around Arthur’s Seat and sing a song or two. I am ready when I get there.

Summerhall is quite remarkable isn’t it?
Yes there are lots of really great shows.

Have you been down the Royal Mile in your garb? It would be quite something.
I am afraid not, because, sadly, my projector is not battery-operated.

Have you had any technical difficulties?
Nothing other than my own clumsiness.

Anything you’d like to add? 
Please come to see 4D Cinema.

Story Pocket Theatre presents Michael Morpurgo’s King Arthur as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2016,

The award winning Story Pocket Theatre presents Michael Morpurgo’s King Arthur from Wednesday 3 –Monday 29 August at Gilded Balloon at the Museum Auditorium, 14.45 (16.00 ends).

The production is an epic tale of magic, heroism, love and betrayal and is adapted from the novel Arthur: High King of Britain, by Michael Morpurgo. Michael is also Patron of Story Pocket Theatre and the author of War Horse and Private Peaceful.

David Gant as King Arthur

David Gant as King Arthur

‘Enthralling, high-quality adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s King Arthur for older children’ The Stage

The story sees a drowning boy rescued by a mysterious figure who claims to be Arthur Pendragon. As the old man tells his tales, he is transported back to the heady days of Camelot, the Round Table, Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, Excalibur, Lancelot and Guinevere. This production features the usual fast-moving family adventure, physical theatre and outstanding storytelling, long associated with multi-award-winning Story Pocket Theatre.

‘compelling adventure story filled with well-choreographed action and quality performances, and best suited to grip late primary school and early teenage viewers’ The List

Story Pocket Theatre are proud to announce that King Arthur will be played by star of stage and screen, David Gant who is known for his roles in Braveheart, Ghandi and Coriolanus at Chichester Festival Theatre. He also voiced Oswald of Carim in the  video game Dark Souls and Lord Aldia in the sequel, Dark Souls II. Gant is an Associate and Licentiate of the London College of Music. Sarine Sofair will play the roles of Guinevere and Lady of the Lake. She recently understudied Carey Mulligan in David Hare’s Skylight at the Wyndhams Theatre, but is best known for her film and TV work such as Lhara in HBO’s Game of Thrones, Bell in The Rizen II, Yvonne in The Look of Love with Steve Coogan, directed by Michael Winterbottom and in Anna Karenina by Joe Wright. And Thomas Gilbey play young Arthur, he was one of the lead puppeteers on the National Theatre’s UK and South African tours of War Horse.  King Arthur is adapted by Adam Fletcher-Forde, co-directed by Julia Black and Adam Fletcher-Forde with original music by George Jennings.

David Gant                     Storyteller, Merlin

Thomas Gilbey             The Boy, Young Arthur

Nigel Munson               Minstrel, Morgana Le Fey, Wounded Knight 2, Green Knight, Mordred, Percivale

Otis Waby                      Kay, Leodegraunce, Wounded Knight 1, Lancelot, Bedevere

McKenzie Scott            Egbert, Pelinore, Gawain, Galahad

Luke Pitman                  Bercelet, Old Man

Sarine Sofair                 Squire, Guinevere, Morgana Le Fey, Lady Nemue, Green Wife, Mum

Story Pocket Theatre was set up in 2013 from a passion to produce beautiful, wonderful and magical theatre for families. In 2014 the company was awarded the Primary Times Children’s Choice and in 2015 the Three Weeks Editors’ Choice Award.

The theatre company’s Patron, Michael Morpurgo says ‘It was apparent straight away that Story Pocket’s focus was on sharing stories in a bright, imaginative way. My passion for stories and writing has taken me all over the world and I am lucky enough to see my stories in print and on stage and screen. It was Story Pocket’s passion for story telling that struck me… I am delighted to be the Patron of Story Pocket Theatre Company.’

LISTINGS INFORMATION: Michael Morpurgo’s King Arthur at Gilded Balloon at the Museum Auditorium from Wednesday 3 – Monday 29 August (not Tuesday 16 & Monday 22), 14.45 (16.00 ends). Suitable for 7 +

Ticket prices £6, £8, £10 & £12. Box office 0131 622 6552 www.gildedballoon.co.uk

Twitter @story_pocket, website www.storypockettheatre.co.uk

Solo tour-de-force Scorch puts gender identity centre stage at Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Scorch is presented by Primecut Productions at Paines Plough’s Roundabout at Summerhall and sees the Fringe debut for award-winning Northern Irish playwright Stacey Gregg. Directed by Emma Jordan (Paul Hamlyn Cultural Entrepreneurship Breakthrough Award) and performed by Amy McAllister (Call the MidwifePhilomena) the production showcases the work of three of the most exciting voices in Northern Irish theatre today. The play is a new original work from Belfast playwright Stacey Gregg and explores issues surrounding gender disclosure experienced by a contemporary teenager.

Scorch

Scorch

Scorch gained further international recognition after it won the Irish Times theatre award for Best New Play of 2015 and has recently won Best New Play at the Writer’s Guild of Ireland ZeBBie Awards.

Inspired by recent court cases and set in the round, Amy McAllister plays Kes, a troubled teenage girl struggling with her gender identity. Kes explores her sexuality and gender by posing as a boy who embarks on an intimate relationship with another girl, which leads to devastating effects both legally and personally. At times funny, poignant and explosive, Scorch is a story of first love through the eyes of a gender-curious teen and examines how the human story often gets lost amidst the headlines.
Presented by Prime Cut Productions; Scorch is directed by Emma Jordan, produced by Una NicEoin and written by Stacey Gregg. Featuring Design/LX by Ciaran Bagnall, Sound Design by Carl Kennedy and Costume Design by Enda Kenny. The production and associated outreach activity is made possible through funding provided by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
2016 marks the third year of Roundabout, Paines Plough’s award-winning portable in-the-round auditorium. It will take up residency once again at Summerhall during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 4 – 29 August.

The real life issue takes on heightened dramatic resonance, fractured and splintered by Gregg’s syncopated prose style”

★★★★ Irish Times

McAllister deftly deals with the emotions involved: incredulity, sadness, fear and the lingering confusion”

★★★★ GiggingNI

Listings Information:

Scorch

Venue: Paines Plough’s Roundabout at Summerhall

Dates & Times: 18.05 (55 mins)5 – 28 August (not Tuesdays 9, 16, 23)

Tickets: Previews 5,6,7, August: £9

10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 22, 24, 25, 29 August: £14 (full) £12 (conc)
8, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 August: £16 (full) £14 (conc)
Box Office: 0131 226 000 / 0131 560 1581 tickets.edfringe.com or summerhall.co.uk

Prime Cut Productions Theatre CompanyBased in Belfast, Northern Ireland and formed in 1992, Prime Cut Productions is at the forefront of contemporary international theatre across the island of Ireland. With over 30 Irish and Northern Irish premieres to their name, Prime Cut have a reputation for producing award-winning, critically acclaimed professional theatre, that challenges, provokes, inspires, entertains and enthrals.

About Paines Plough. Plough is the UK’s national theatre of new plays. The company commissions and produces the best playwrights and tours their plays far and wide. Whether you’re in Liverpool or Lyme Regis, Scarborough or Southampton, a Paines Plough show is coming to a theatre near you soon.
Paines Plough was formed in 1974 over a pint of Paines bitter in the Plough pub. Since then they’ve produced more than 130 new productions by world renowned playwrights like Stephen Jeffreys, Abi Morgan, Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, Dennis Kelly and Mike Bartlett.
2016 marks the third year of Roundabout, Paines Plough’s award-winning portable in-the-round auditorium. The Roundabout season will preview from 19 – 24 July at Hackney Showroom in London before taking up residency once again at Summerhall during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 4 – 29 August

Goggles – a quirky comedy about love, loss, loneliness and fish presented by ThisEgg

Gemma and Josie had pet fish, Sunny and Boo. But now they are dead. As they remember watching their pet fish live harmoniously in a bowl, Gemma and Josie wonder if they love each other as much as Sunny and Boo had loved each other. They think about whether it would be possible to love each other more. They think that might be too much, but then they think about living without one another.

Goggles

Goggles

This is a quirky comedy about keeping afloat. It is an attempt to give Sunny and Boo the happy ending they deserved…

Goggles plays with how we can make what we imagine become real. It is about doing something to right a wrong. It is about the struggle to keep a friendship in balance. Devised and Performed by Gemma Barnett and Josie Dale-Jones, this is an imaginative piece of comic theatre charged with vitality and immediacy.

Past achievements for ThisEgg:

“This theatre company is definitely one to keep an eye on.” 

Edinburgh Spotlight

WINNER OF BEST HIDDEN GEM AWARD 2014

EntertainmentWise

Short Listed for the

NSDF EDINBURGH EMERGING ARTISTS AWARD 2014

★★★★★ “delivered to perfection” 

Pick of the Fringe’ Stage Won (Spaghetti Junction 2012)

★★★★

Fest (Please Don’t Cry (At My Funeral) 2014)

★★★★  “eccentric, hilarious, buzzing” 

Fringe Biscuit (Spaghetti Junction 2012)

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Attic

Dates: 3-29th August (excl 16th)

Time: 14.00-15.00

Web: www.thisegg.co.uk

 

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Us/Them – a crisp, witty, playful and stylish piece of physical theatre for young audiences

Us/Them is taking Summer Hall by storm. And rightly so. It is a highly impressive piece of physical theatre. This is a crisp, witty, playful and stylish piece for young audiences by Belgian Theatre company Bronks and has super producer Richard Jordan‘s fingerprints all over it.

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Click the image to book your tickets for Us/Them

This striking show tells the story of the 2004 siege of a school by Chechen separatist with breathtaking originality.

The opening section set the tone for the piece, which plays across a range of emotions, as humour and  playfulness coexist with much darker and disturbing content. The harrowing, yet innovative storytelling are edited and integrated from the start of performance, providing a narrative from which the rest of the piece extended.  Skillfulness of movement and expression is evident in the way text is rendered.

What really stands out is the strong communication with the audience through vocal and facial work supported by building anticipation as to what was coming next.

A range of dynamics within movement work prevent any slippage of attention. This means that when the surprises in the devastatingly simple set design are unveiled, a strong theatrical context is created.

This two hander is played electrically by Gytha Parmentier, Roman Van Houtven.
Their duet sequences are magnificently developed to remind the audience of the tragic story of the siege we hear but through subtle re-working of imagery rather than anything sentimental. I’ll never look at chalk in the same way again.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR TICKETS FOR US/THEM

Bootworks Theatre Present The Many Doors of Frank Feelbad

Building on the huge success of critically acclaimed ‘The Incredible Book Eating Boy’ (***** Scotsman 2011), Total Theatre Award-winners Bootworks Theatre create The Lose-O-Porium – an intimate space where all lost things live. And where Frank’s adventures can be enjoyed by small audiences of children and their grown ups.

The Many Doors of Frank Feelbad

The Many Doors of Frank Feelbad

Frank is an inquisitive chap with a big problem; what’s happened to Mum? Join Frank on his adventure to find her. There’ll be scavenger hunts, puzzles to solve and even some dancing to dub-step. Dealing sensitively with grief and loss, the show asks how we cope when things go missing. This interactive performance is presented within The Lose-O-Porium – an intimate space where all lost things live, and where Frank’s adventures can be enjoyed by small audiences and their grown ups.

Running Time: 60 mins | Suitable for ages 5+

Commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre, greenhouse, artsdepot and Worthing Theatres. Supported by The ShowRoom, University of Chichester, Stratford Circus & Worboys Productions. Funded by Arts Council England.

James Baker said; This show makes a conscious effort to depart from work for young people loyal to happy endings and starts with the presumption that children are already more aware of the complexity of the world than perhaps we give them credit for; that they’re aware that Mum & Dad sometimes fight, that people aren’t always nice, that it’s possible to fall-sick or even die without rhyme nor reason. It celebrates the idea that children aren’t made of glass and require wrapping in cotton wool. That kids are not just receptive, but intrigued and enquiring, when it comes to addressing those taboos, that us adults, might find difficult. This show celebrates the complexity of children as they grow up, and how little as adults we really understand. It asks questions about how a child might cope with the death of a mother, and reaches out to our child audiences in helping answer that question.
Listings Information:
Venue: Pleasance Kids @ EICC
Performance dates: Wed 10th- Sun 28th August
Time: 12pm (60 minutes)
Tickets: Full price (concession price) £8.50 (£6)
Pleasance Kids @ EICC
Wed 10th- Sun 28th August
12pm (60 minutes)
Box Office: 0131 556 6550
Pleasance Press Office; press@pleasance.co.uk
Online booking: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/via/search/edinburgh

Review
The Many Doors of Frank Feelbad deals with death in the most precious, thought-provoking way for an audience of totally immersed children aged 5+ and their equally enthralled adults. Childrens Theatre Review

‘WHAT a delight this show is – a joy from start to finish.’
***** The Scotsman on ‘The Incredible Book Eating Boy’ (Edinburgh Fringe 2011)

‘It is utterly, sometimes alarmingly, consistently magically, wonderful.’
Guardian on ‘The Incredible Book Eating Boy’ (Edinburgh Fringe 2011)

Winners of a Total Theatre Award for Innovation 2010
Nominated for Total Theatre Award in Innovation & Experimentation 2009, 2015

About Bootworks:
Bootworks Theatre is a group of artists committed to making high quality and original theatre for unusual spaces. Our work appears anywhere we might be encountered; in cafes, garages, foyers, libraries tents, studios and pubs and we often design our own installations for to take place. We also publish articles and books that document both our practice, and work from like-minded artists and companies around the UK
Our work has been presented extensively across the UK including the National Theatre, the Southbank Centre, The National Museum of Scotland and once at a funeral. We’ve presented projects in 9 different countries worldwide in collaboration with the British Council; from a live silent film on the lake inside the Museum of Art in Kochi, to a 5-minute Oliver Jeffers adaptation for one child at a time at an orphanage of 78 children 4-hours drive outside of Cairo.
What draws us together is making performance that has its core focus on the person, intimate and nostalgic. And we aim to reach entirely new audiences with each new project that we develop; engaging audiences from all walks of life.

Credits:
Concept; Bootworks Theatre
Directed by: James Baker
Devised by: James Baker, Robert Jude Daniels, Andy Roberts and Sophia Walls. With performance from Josh Mathieson.
Producer: Becki Haines
Writing; Nick Field
Sound Design; Dougie Evans
Animation; Trevor Hardy
Puppets: Amelia Bird
Lighting Design; Vince Field
Photography; Alex Brenner
Film; Rosie Powell

@bootworks | #NLTMVC | www.bootworkstheatre.co.uk

The Honorable East End Company presents DUSTY HORNE’S SOUND AND FURY

The most famous foley artist you’ve never heard of… Dusty Horne.

It’s 1963.  The father of sound on film, Jack Foley, has inspired a generation of ‘foley artists’, pioneers upon the landscape of cinema history.  Dusty Horne is not one of them.

A laugh-out-loud aural extravaganza, Dusty Horne’s Sound and Fury is a journey through the magic of sound on film. From Hitchcock masterpieces to the B-movie fare of Roger Corman, you’ll hear thunderclaps, gunshots, broken glass and breaking hearts – and if you’re lucky, a hideous shriek from the odd crab monster or two.

Dusty Horne's horn

Dusty Horne’s horn

Watch – and even join in – as Dusty live-syncs dancing footsteps, murderous knife-slashes and creaking pirate ships with her rag-tag collection of madcap props, in a show which is bizarrely believable, innovative and triumphantly enjoyable.

Will Dusty keep her cool?  What does a radioactive spider sound like?  And should disaster strike and destroy her precious sound-reels (this may happen), will you, gentle audience, help to save her life’s work and salvage her foundering career?

Experience the subtle madness of this rarely-witnessed performance art, as Dusty moves like a dancer, drinks like a fish and bares her soul on her quest for artistic immortality. You’ll never listen to film the same way again…

“This is a perfect Edinburgh show… I bloody loved it!” Ellie Browning, Programming Developer at Riverside Studios

“I loved the concept, the energy, the audience participation – all so much fun” Sharon Burrell, To the Moon Productions

“Fantastic. That’s going to go down a storm in Edinburgh.” Lindsay Fraser, Fine Line Productions

To bring Dusty Horne to life, writer Frank Tamburin (Under Offer, Dave Shakespeare) and actor and co-creator Natasha Pring (The Love Project, Wraps) have studied foley techniques with Universal Sound studio and have been mentored by the fantastic, Emmy award-winning foley artist and performer Ruth Sullivan (The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Dickensian, Downton Abbey, ENO’s The Magic Flute). Directed by Katharine Rogers.

www.soundandfury.show / @TheDustyHorne /

LISTINGS

Dusty Horne’s Sound and Fury

The Honorable East End Company

Queen Dome, The Pleasance

2.30pm (60mins)

3 – 5 (£6.50); 16, 22, 23, 29 (£8.50 (£7.50); 10 & 11, 17 & 18, 24 & 25 (£10 (£8.50)); 6 – 9, 12 – 14, 19 – 21, 26 – 28 (£11 (£10))

 

Fledgling Theatre presents World premier of They Built It. No One Came.

Neither of us were very charismatic. That was a problem.

Eight years ago Tobias and Alexander came together to form a spiritualistic commune based on their shared values of a peaceful and harmonious community. They are still awaiting their first members.

Chris Neels and Patrick Holt.

Christopher Neels and Patrick Holt. © Callum Cameron

The story is inspired by a New York Times article written by Penelope Green: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/style/they-built-it-no-one-came.html?_r=1

Fledgling Theatre Company is an international theatre company based in both London and Sydney, formed by Callum Cameron, Christopher Neels, Chris Huntley-Turner and Patrick Holt in 2013, all of whom graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Edoardo Elia, a talented musician and composer who moved to UK from Italy to study music at Kingston University, joins the cast for his first Fledgling Theatre show.

The company is known for creating raw and visceral theatre that explores all facets of the human condition, with physicality playing the crucial part in every show.

Fledgling Theatre’s previous shows include Modern Jesus (2014) focusing on the aftermath of a burst of aggression of a young Sainsbury’s employee and Jericho Creek (2015), a tale of religious fanaticism in colonial Australia inspired by the works of Nick Cave.

Previews 3rd/4th August at 3pm

Performances 5th-29th August at 3pm

Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker Two

Suitable for all ages.

Artists’ biographies:

Patrick Holt (as Alexander) is a founding member of Fledgling Theatre. He trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. His work in theatre includes Doctor Scroggy’s War (Shakespeare’s Globe), News Revue (Canal Café), Wolf Kisses and The Medium (both in Arcola Theatre). He’s been involved in both Fledgling Theatre shows: Modern Jesus (The Nursery, Southwark) and Jericho Creek (The Cockpit).

Callum Cameron is a founding member of Fledgling Theatre. He trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. His credits include 1001 (Southwark Playhouse), In the City A Short Time Ago (Arcola Theatre), Story Project (Arcola Theatre), The Duchess of Malfi (The New Diorama Theatre), Richard III (Hiraeth Artistic Productions), Slingshot (Park Theatre),  NUTS (Proudfoot Films). He’s been involved in both Fledgling Theatre shows: Modern Jesus (The Nursery, Southwark) and Jericho Creek (The Cockpit).

Edoardo Elia was born in Modena, Italy and moved to the UK in 2009 to attend the undergraduate course in Music Technology at Kingston University. Since then he has played in many venues across the capital, including: Bar Vinyl, Solo Bar, Camden Proud, The Half Moon, Camden Rock, The Finsbury, The 100 Club, The Boogaloo, Stamford Bridge, Ye Old Blue Last and Blessings. He is passionate about folk-traditional music and in September 2015 released his first EP: FOCUS. Entirely self-produced, it was written, arranged and recorded between London, Kansas City, Amsterdam, Turin and was finally put together by Davide Cristiani at Bombanella Soundscape Studio in Maranello.

Christopher Neels (as Tobias)  is a New Zealand born actor currently based in London. He trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has a Masters in Contemporary Acting. He is a founding member of Fledgling Theatre Company. Theatre credits include Crooks (Colab Theatre), Tempest (Globe/ Sonnet Walks), Taming of the Shrew (Arrows and Traps – New Wimbledon Theatre), Winter’s Tale (Arrows and Traps – Lion and Unicorn Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Arrows and Traps – Lion and Unicorn Theatre) and Bazaar (Arcola Theatre). He’s been involved in both Fledgling Theatre shows: Modern Jesus (The Nursery, Southwark) and Jericho Creek (The Cockpit) as both writer and director.